Having His Back
by unlikelyRLshipper
Summary: D/L. Series of three interconnected oneshots for 8.04 Officer Involved, so spoilers ahoy for that epsisode!  Further details about where each fits in at the top of each chapter.  Sorry for complete lack of summary!
1. Chapter 1

**Please excuse the following OT rant: Stupid World Series Game 7! I want my new episode of CSI:NY!**

**And now back to what you're all interested in:**

**OK, so I realize that I'm a little behind, seeing as **_**Officer Involved**_** aired two weeks ago, but it's taken me this long to get these oneshots sorted out. The basic idea of where each of these scenes would fit into the episode was there, but trying to flesh them out proved to be difficult. But they're done now, and that's all you guys care about at the end of the day, isn't it? *winks***

**So, this first one picks up right after Lindsay spirits Danny away from the IAB d-bag (like the actor, but seriously, the character was a jerk!) I hope you enjoy.**

**P.S. I haven't read anyone else's take on this episode, so if you see any similarities here with the work of others, it's purely coincidence – or just maybe great minds thinking alike?**

**P.P.S. Thank you to those of you who read my last post-ep, and special thanks to rhymenocerous, webdlfan, MesserFamilyFan100, SweetLILloz, and afrozenheart412 for their lovely reviews – all of you guys are awesome!**

**On with the show!**

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><p>Glancing back over her shoulder as she led Danny away from the IAB lieutenant, a part of Lindsay thought that maybe she was overreacting and being too hasty in trying to spirit him away. That part of her was quickly silenced by the part that needed to protect him and which demanded to know what the hell had happened last night.<p>

She thought back to how she'd come to be tangled up in all this…

_Lindsay knew that Danny wouldn't be coming home after his shift tonight because he was planning on going out for drinks with a few of his rookies, an activity that she'd encouraged him to arrange. Though she regretted not being able to spend even a few minutes with him before she went to sleep, she fully expected him to accidentally wake her up in the middle of the night when he finally crawled into bed. Those were the types of moments in the day that she was now used to, and she was willing to take whatever she could get. Closing her eyes, she hoped that he would be home soon._

_The buzzing of her phone on the nightstand startled Lindsay into wakefulness and as she reached for the offending item, she glanced at the alarm clock and saw that it was almost 4 o'clock in the morning. She didn't feel Danny's presence behind her, and her wandering hand confirmed that he wasn't there and that his side of the bed had not been disturbed. Before her sleep-addled brain could begin to process that fact, the phone buzzed again in her hand. Finally seeing who was calling her only confused Lindsay more. _

"_Mac?"_

"_Hi Lindsay."_

"_You know that I'm not on call tonight, right?" It was the only reason that Lindsay could think Mac would be calling her this late at night._

"_That's not why I'm calling. It's Danny…"_

"_No…" The phone slipped from her hand and landed on her legs as her hand flew up to her mouth in shock. The tears came hard and fast down her cheeks and her breathing became laboured as she choked on the sobs that her hand was barely concealing. Somehow through the middle of her breakdown, she heard Mac's small and tinny voice saying "Danny's alive" over and over again. Those two words gave her enough hope and strength to pick up the phone and speak to Mac._

"_Danny's alive?"_

"_Lindsay, thank god. Yes, Danny _is_ alive. He's OK. Do you understand?"_

_It took Lindsay a few moments to respond as she struggled to bring her emotions back in check, but when she finally whispered "Yes" she heard Mac sigh in relief._

"_I'm so sorry Lindsay. I should have started out by saying that." She heard him take a deep breath and then he was speaking again. "He is OK Lindsay, I promise you, but he won't be coming home tonight. He's part of an officer-involved shooting."_

"_What?"_

"_I don't know a lot of the details, I just got here, but Danny and his rookies were ambushed, Danny was knocked out, a gun was pulled on the rookies and the young woman Cooper shot and killed one of the assailants with Danny's back up."_

"_Oh my god." Lindsay stayed quiet for a moment, trying to process what she'd been told. When her brain finished catching up, she asked the next logical question. "Are you sure Danny's OK? Can I talk to him."_

"_I'm sorry Lindsay, they're not letting him speak to anyone until they figure out what the hell happened. They came after me for just checking to see if he was alright. And trust me, he's no worse for wear: when he shouted after me to call you and let you know that he was OK, the officer watching him tried to tell him to stop talking. Danny laid into the guy so bad I'm certain that kid was hoping the earth would open up and swallow him whole."_

_Lindsay smiled to herself for a second, feeling some of her panic ease after hearing about Danny's antics. Before she could ask anything else, Mac started talking again._

"_Look Lindsay, I know you're not going to like this, but you can't work this case. It's a conflict of interest."_

"_But…"_

"_No exceptions. IAB is going to be all over this and because there are rookies involved, Danny's going to be the first one they look at. There is absolutely no room for error here. Danny's career may depend on it."_

_She let out a heavy sigh before answering. "I understand Mac." She certainly didn't agree, but there was nothing that she could do about it. She heard a voice in the background calling out to Mac._

"_I'm sorry Lindsay, I've got to go. Are you going to be OK?"_

"_I'll be fine Mac. Go do what you need to do."_

"_Alright, I'll see you later at the lab."_

"_OK. Thanks Mac."_

"_You're welcome. Bye."_

"_Bye."_

_Looking at her phone after ending the call, Lindsay let out a sigh of frustration, feeling an overwhelming need to talk to Danny and make sure he was OK for herself. Resigning to the fact that they couldn't talk, she decided to take a gamble and sent him a short text._

Mac called. I know you can't call me, but I wanted you to know that I'm fine and that I love you.

_Hitting the _'Send'_ button, she waited with baited breath for a response. She was just about to give up hope when her phone started buzzing in her hand and the screen lit up showing his short response:_

XOXO

_Letting the relief wash over her, she put the phone back on the nightstand and threw herself back onto her pillow, feeling tears in her eyes again as she stared at the ceiling._

_She knew going back to sleep would basically be impossible, but she tried for a half-hour before finally giving up. Her mind couldn't stop coming up with possible scenarios for what had happened to Danny and his rookies tonight, and even worse, she couldn't stop imagining what the IAB would do to her husband. Tossing back the covers in frustration, Lindsay got out of bed and stalked into the living room to grab their laptop. Bringing it back to bed with her, she started researching all she could about IAB procedure and what could happen to Danny if they tried to pin what happened on him._

_She must have dozed off at some point because the next thing she remembered was the alarm going off beside her letting her know it was 7:30 am. Shutting the computer off, she went to wake Lucy up, telling the little girl that Danny had gone off to work early when she's asked where he was. Lindsay pretended that nothing was wrong as she fed Lucy her breakfast and got her ready for preschool, and thankfully Lucy seemed none the wiser._

_Not for the first time, Lindsay was grateful that Lucy's preschool was only 3 blocks from their apartment. After kissing her daughter goodbye and handing her off to one of her teachers, Lindsay hurried to the subway and caught a train that would take her to the bar Danny had told her they were heading to the previous night._

_When she finally caught sight of him, she had to resist the urge to run over and throw her arms around him. She still planned on doing that, but she'd wait until they were alone. She'd finally started to calm down when Lt. Adler had come over and introduced himself, trying to get Danny to give his statement as quickly as possible. Lindsay panicked in that moment, all that information about the IAB still fresh in her mind, and she began to insist that Danny get himself checked out, pulling her husband away before either he or Adler could stop her… _

Lindsay was so caught up in replaying the last 12 hours that she almost missed Danny speaking to her. "Babe, did you really hafta do that? I got nothing to hide from IAB, I did nothing wrong. I'd rather get this over with as soon as possible."

Finding her composure quickly, she responded. "C'mon Danny, you and I both know that IAB plays like this, trying to get cops to talk before they can seek counsel or even think straight. You've told me yourself that you fell into that trap after the subway shooting and it nearly cost you your badge. I remember you saying that you'd never make that mistake again, so why are you in such a hurry right now?"

Part of the reason was because he wasn't the only one involved this time, and because these were _his _rookies, but he soon realized that she was right. "OK, but I'm not going to the ER, my head is fine."

"No, I'm taking you." There was not an ounce of give in her tone. "You've still got glass in your head, you probably need stitches, and you were unconscious for a few minutes according to Mac. I want to make sure that you're completely fine before you let IAB talk to you. I don't want there to be any chance that they can try and use your injury to their advantage."

"I'm starting to think that you're the one who needs to have her head examined: I'm the one who's always bashing IAB or being suspicious of them. What gives?"

"I spent the night brushing up on IAB and on the regulations for officer-involved shootings."

Danny shook his head at her, hardly surprised by that revelation. "Linds, it's gonna be fine."

Lindsay looked like she was about to respond when she saw a cab coming towards them which she quickly flagged down. Giving the driver the name of the nearest hospital, she turned back to her husband as she opened the door. "Get in."

"Yes dear," he said mockingly as he did as he was told. She got in beside him and shut the door behind her, and when the cab pulled away from the curb, Lindsay curled herself into Danny's side, resting her head on his shoulder and breathing in his familiar scent.

Danny was completely surprised that she didn't go after him for his comment and more than a little surprised by the uncharacteristic PDA, but he said nothing about it. He had his suspicions about what was fuelling her over-protectiveness, but he knew better than to push her into talking about it. She would tell him when she was ready, so he leaned down to graze his lips against her temple as he wrapped an arm around her, more than happy to let her draw whatever comfort she needed from him.

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><p>Thankfully for them both, they didn't have to wait long in the ER because of the nature of Danny's injury and also because the on-duty nurse recognized Danny as a cop. The ER doctor checked him over first, asking him a series of questions while examining Danny's ears and eyes. Seemingly satisfied with Danny's answers, the doctor turned his attention to Danny's wound, plucking the rest of the glass out before giving him 4 small stitches.<p>

Just as Danny was about to hop off the bed and get ready to leave, the doctor informed him that between the head injury, the falling down and the loss of consciousness, he suspected that Danny had a mild concussion. Given his alertness, the doctor believed that Danny was OK, but just to be sure, he was going to keep Danny for observation for the next two hours. A protest was forming on the tip of Danny's tongue when he felt Lindsay's hand close over his like a vice. He quickly glanced over at her and saw the frightened look in her eyes, which immediately silenced any thoughts he had of leaving. Giving his assent to the doctor, Danny shifted himself back on the bed and made himself as comfortable as possible. The doctor promised that in 2 hour's time, he'd be back ready to sign the discharge papers if Danny's condition remained the same. With that, the doctor left and drew the curtain behind him, giving the couple some much needed privacy.

Getting comfortable in the chair, Lindsay finally unleashed the one question that had been dying to get out since she'd seen him. "What happened last night, Danny?"

Lindsay listened with rapt attention while Danny described how the victim wouldn't take a hint about Cooper's lack of interest, how he threw the guy out of the bar, how he remembered exiting the bar but then only remembered waking up on the ground, looking over at Cooper and seeing her crouched over a body, his off-duty piece clutched in her hand. He went on to tell her what Cates and Foley, the other two rookies, said had happened and then quickly caught her up on everything that had happened once the police and the crime lab arrived, right up until the moment Lindsay found him standing on the street corner.

"Did you see the gun the victim was holding?"

"That's the thing: when I took my gun back, I looked for it and didn't see it. I was catching bits of conversation the whole time from the first-on-scene guys, and they said that there was no sign of a gun."

Lindsay hesitated for a moment before asking her next question, unsure of how Danny would react. "Do you think your rookies are lying?"

Without hesitating, he said, "No, no way. They got no reason to. Yeah, they're green, but the 3 of them are some of my best. They know what they're doing, I trust them." Danny paused for a second before continuing. "I think that we'll probably find the gun when the other two guys are found."

"Alright." Lindsay didn't have as much faith in these rookies as Danny did, but he knew them best so if he believed them, that was enough for her. She just prayed that that faith was not misplaced, because she knew how badly Danny would take that revelation. Looking over at him, she noticed just how exhausted he looked now that he was away from all the action. "You should probably try and get some rest, you've been up all night."

He gave her a funny look. "Ummm, babe, head injuries and sleep don't exactly mix."

"I know that, I meant for you to relax, to try and think about something else for a little while."

"And what about you?" He asked sceptically. "You're not looking so hot yourself. I wasn't the only one up last night."

"Always the charmer, I see. I'm not the one who got knocked out, so you need it more than I do." She saw the unbelieving look he gave her, so she tried to deflect him again. "I'm fine Danny, really."

"No you're not. You're putting up a front just like I am." He knew that he was about to go against his better judgement, but he decided to push her into telling him what was wrong with her because he knew that he wouldn't be able to relax while she was so obviously tense. "What's the matter Linds, what's got you so upset that you're going all 'Mama Bear' on everyone, including me?"

The minute Danny asked the question, Lindsay's mind flashed back to the phone call she received from Mac and those few moments of terror when she thought something had happened to Danny. The mere thought of such a thing brought tears to her eyes and she screwed them shut, trying to will the tears away.

"Lindsay?"

The concern in his voice only made the tears fall harder and she was now helpless against them. Though she wanted to move closer to him, she found herself unable to move from the chair, paralyzed by the memory of thinking Mac had called to tell her Danny was dead. She felt two hands come up and frame her face and when she finally forced her eyes open again, she found herself staring directly into Danny's eyes. Crouched down before her, he used his thumbs to wipe her tears away and said nothing, waiting for her to speak.

"When Mac called me last night, the first thing I thought was that he needed me to come in to work. I noticed that you weren't in bed, but I was still half asleep so I didn't even think that he was calling about you. When he said your name, my mind jumped to the worst case scenario and I lost it. I thought…" Lindsay grabbed onto Danny's wrists to steady her mind, to remind herself that he was really there in front of her. "I thought that you weren't coming home ever again. It took me a while to understand that Mac was still speaking and when I finally heard that you were alive, I had to struggle to get my emotions under control to hear the rest of what Mac knew. For a moment there, it was like I was back as the foot of the lighthouse with no idea what was happening to you."

That was a memory that he tried to never think about, so for her to be reminded of that needlessly tore him to pieces. "I'm sorry babe, I'm sorry that you had to go through that on your own."

"You have nothing to apologize for, it's not your fault Danny."

"I know, I just wish that I'd been able to call you myself. Then you wouldn't have had to go through that."

"You're here now Dan and that's all that matters. I'm OK now, but I can think of something that will make me feel even better."

"Name it."

"Can you just hold me for a little while?"

"You never gotta ask me for that." Leaning forward to quickly kiss her forehead, Danny dropped his hands from her face as he stood up, grabbing her hands to pull her up with him. With them both on their feet, they moved into each other, Danny wrapping his arms tightly around her small frame as she buried her face once more in his neck and wrapped her arms around his waist. Neither was sure how long they stood there, but eventually Danny pulled away slightly. "C'mon."

Lindsay let him lead her to the bed, where after climbing on himself he pulled her up to join him on the narrow object. With some minor adjustment, they were comfortably situated, Danny on his back and Lindsay on her side half draped over his body. About 45 minutes later, Lindsay fell asleep from the exhaustion caused by the last 12 hours and the comfort she found in Danny's arms. He let her sleep and took the time to just watch her, feeling himself relax the longer he focused on her.

True to his word, the doctor showed up after two hours and seeing that Danny was still fine, he signed the discharge papers. Danny didn't want to wake Lindsay, but he knew that he needed to. As her eyes fluttered open and she figured out that she'd been asleep, she blushed slightly. "Sorry for falling asleep on you, Danny."

"You don't gotta apologize for that. You needed the rest, and watching you helped me relax. I feel better now, even if I still haven't slept yet.

They exited the hospital hand in hand and opted to take the subway this time rather than a cab. They rode in silence, but as they got closer and closer to the lab and the precinct, Lindsay could feel Danny becoming more tense. Some of her earlier panic was returning as well, knowing that once he went to talk to IAB, he'd be on his own. She quieted those fears by reminding herself that he could take care of himself and she focused her attention on trying to keep him calm. The entire walk from the subway to the precinct, she kept her hand in his, using her thumb to stroke the back of his hand in soothing circles. It seemed to be helping him, but the spell was broken by the sound of her ringing cellphone. Without looking at the caller ID, she answered. "Messer."

"Hi Lindsay. Are you still with Danny?"

"Yes Mac. The ER doctor kept him at the hospital for a couple of hours to make sure he was alright, but he was released about a half-hour ago. Right now, we're about half a block from the precinct."

"That's great news. Look, I know you want to stay with him, but another body just dropped. I need you to go work the scene with Hawkes, Jo's just gone to drop him off there."

"What's the address?"

"I'm sending you a text right now."

"Alright. I'll go grab my kit and a truck and I'll meet Hawkes there."

"Thanks. Tell Danny that we're all thinking about him."

"Will do. Bye Mac."

"Bye."

"Mac says that they're all thinking about you," Lindsay commented as she checked the message Mac had sent her. Though she didn't want to leave Danny, she knew that she had to. Looking him in the eyes, she saw only understanding there, which made her feel a bit better.

"I'll be fine Lindsay. Go."

She nodded as she leaned up to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "No matter what happens, we're gonna figure it out, right Danny?"

"Just like we always do babe." Stealing one more kiss from her, he let go of her hand as he turned towards the precinct. "Bye Linds, I love you."

"I love you too Danny."

With a quick smile he left her behind, walking as if nothing was wrong. As Lindsay made her way across the street to the lab, she once again hoped that his instincts were right.

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><p><strong>Now onto part II…<strong>

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**And here's part II!**

**This one takes place after Danny finishes his meeting with the IAB d-bag where he's accused on having an affair with Cooper (really?) and placed on modified assignment. It's time to see how Lindsay reacts to the news…**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>After being placed on modified assignment, accused of telling his rookies to lie to IAB and being suspected on having an affair with Cooper, Danny couldn't bring himself to head directly home, so he sat down on a bench in his neighbourhood park to think. He knew that Lucy was already asleep, but Lindsay probably wasn't and he wasn't ready to face her just yet, even if he was dead on his feet.<p>

He knew he'd done nothing wrong and he knew that Lindsay believed him 100 percent, but Lt. Adler and his accusations had Danny all turned around. He didn't want to believe that Cooper, Cates and Foley would turn on him like that, just throw him under the bus like he was nothing, but apparently they would, and they did.

And then there was the footage from the bar.

After working so long at the crime lab, Danny had seen his fair share of cases that were either made or broken because of some piece of surveillance footage. He also knew that there was a lot of interpretation that went into using the footage and that it was very easy to make up a story based on what you saw. After seeing the footage, he reluctantly had to admit that without knowing what had happened at the bar, it would look like there was something going on between him and Cooper. That realization caused him to start doubting himself, replaying all this interactions with Cooper to try and see if he'd maybe given her the wrong impression. When he could think of nothing, he started to go over his time with Cates and Foley, trying to see if they'd shown some signs of disloyalty or if he'd somehow wronged them so badly that they'd want to screw him over enough to possibly end his career.

After an hour of wracking his brain, replaying events over and over in his mind, Danny couldn't come up with any answers as to why he was in this predicament. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he knew that he couldn't put off going home any longer. With a heavy sigh, he got up off the bench and finally walked the last four blocks to his apartment.

Quietly opening the front door, Danny saw that Lindsay had left the light in the front hall on for him. Glancing into the living room and seeing it empty, he turned the light off and silently made his way to their bedroom. As he pushed the door aside, he quickly noticed that she was asleep, lying on his side of the bed gripping his pillow tightly. His heart broke for her once again because he knew that this was taking as big a toll on her as it was on him, though she tried to hide it. She was so worried about him and because she didn't have any control over what was happening, she was running herself ragged trying to play out all the possible scenarios in her mind. He really didn't want to tell her what had happened in this last meeting, if for no other reason than to not add to her stress, but he knew that the minute she woke up, she'd ask and he'd have to tell her.

Stripping down to his wifebeater and throwing on a pair of sweatpants, Danny made his way over to the bed and sat down on the edge. Between the shift of the bed and Danny's hand which automatically reached out to run down her cheek, Lindsay quickly woke up, albeit a bit disoriented. "Danny?"

"Yeah babe, it's me."

Sitting up and running her hand over her face, Lindsay noticed the time on the clock. "What happened? That meeting went on a long time."

"No, it was over an hour ago. I just…I needed to be alone for a little while to think."

Reaching out to turn his head to face her, Lindsay saw the weight of whatever had happened all over his face. "Tell me Danny."

"They're putting me on modified assignment. IAB thinks that I told Cooper to lie."

"Why?" The shock and disbelief was clearly in Lindsay's voice.

"Because that's what Cooper told IAB."

"That's bullshit!"

"I know, but it's my word against hers. I'm pretty sure the other two are saying the same thing, so that's not helping me. Neither is the fact that IAB thinks I was having an inappropriate relationship with Cooper."

"What?"

"They got video from the bar that makes it look like she and I are more than just co-workers."

"Oh Danny…" Lindsay sighed as she put her hand on Danny's cheek. He leaned into her touch and she was about to remind him about the number of times they'd been wrong about what was going on in surveillance footage when she found him staring at her intently, his eyes locked on hers.

"You know it's not true, right? There's nothing going on between me and Cooper. I wouldn't do that to you, not after last time."

"Danny, stop…"

"But…"

"No," she said with finality as she moved closer to him and turned his upper body to fully face her. "I know nothing happened between the two of you, and I never thought for a second that there was anything going on there. I know you wouldn't do that. I trust you Danny."

Continuing to look into her eyes, Danny plainly saw there the trust she had in him and he felt ridiculous for even entertaining the thought. "I know, I'm sorry. It's just that this investigation is really getting to me. I don't know what the hell is going on right now, but it doesn't look good for me. I think I'm gonna be fired."

"Don't get ahead of yourself Danny. They haven't finished their investigation yet. You don't know that for certain." She was trying to be optimistic, but she knew that it would be a hard sell on Danny.

"Babe, I don't have the cleanest jacket to begin with and this is too big to just go away. They're out for blood here and if I can't prove my innocence, it's mine they'll take."

"We'll cross that bridge _if_, and only _if_, we need to, OK?" Begrudgedly, Danny nodded his head. She took that as a small victory and pressed forward. "It's been a long day Danny. Let this go for the moment and get some sleep."

He gave her a disbelieving look in response. "I can't…and neither can you."

Unable to deny his statement, she instead amended hers. "But we can try, the both of us, together."

Danny considered her words for a moment and then leaned forward to capture her lips in a passionate kiss, letting the depth of his feelings for her wash over him and drown out all the uncertainties he was feeling at the moment. He finally nodded his head in answer when they pulled apart and she gave him a half-smile and another shorter peck on the lips.

When she started to shift back to her own side of the bed, he stilled her with a hand on her thigh. Looking at him expectantly for an explanation, she watched as he shifted backwards into the middle of the bed, placing himself behind her. Without saying anything, he turned her onto her side and drew her back into his body, wrapping himself around her. After bringing the covers up over their bodies, Danny placed his right hand over hers and wrapped them around her stomach. Once their legs had tangled of their own volition, he ghosted his lips at the top of her spine before finally closing his eyes and willing himself to sleep.

Five minutes passed before Lindsay felt his even breathing on her neck and she was glad that he was asleep, but she didn't follow him right away. She was still unsettled by what Danny had told her, but even more so by the toll it was taking on him: his sudden need to reassure her of his fidelity, his certainty that his career was over, even the way they were sleeping was affected by that damn IAB investigation.

Normally Danny slept on his back with Lindsay tucked into his side, her using his arm or his chest as her own personal pillow. How they were currently situated, as she'd come to find out, was Danny's way of seeking reassurance that she was really with him and that they were OK. It was how they'd slept when she'd shown up after her rainwalk. It was the same way they'd fallen asleep the first night he'd stayed over after learning that the night of her rainwalk resulted in her becoming pregnant. She'd grown accustomed to sleeping like this during most of her pregnancy because it was most comfortable for her, but once she'd given birth it was back to their old sleeping habits. She'd only found herself wrapped up in him again in that first week after she'd killed Shane Casey, but at that time she'd need that reassurance just as much as he did, and she'd always felt safe tucked into the curve of his body.

Drawn back to the present by a twitch in his leg, she silently cursed the IAB and his rookies for doing this to him. Her anger had only steeled her resolve to try and fix this, regulations be damned. As Lindsay closed her eyes to join him in sleep, she decided that she'd go and see Mac tomorrow and seek his guidance. Her final thought before giving into her exhaustion was that no matter what Mac advised, she was also going to find Officer Cooper and give the young woman a piece of her mind.

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><p><strong>Go Lindsay! I was kinda shocked at first when I saw Lindsay walk up to Cooper and start giving her what fore, but that scene was definitely a highlight for me! Seriously, don't mess with (or bet against, for that matter) a country girl!<strong>

**Alright, now onto the last part! Thank you once again for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**And here we are, at the end of our journey. This one picks up after Danny leaves IAB headquarters and tries to explain a bit how we got to the whole "Two Weeks Later" scene (which I adored!)**

**One last time, enjoy!**

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><p>Putting the key in the lock of his front door, Danny Messer had never been more pleased to be coming home at the end of the day. He took a second before unlocking the door, letting the last remnants of his frustration over the past few days fall away. Thankfully, the IAB investigation was behind him, but it had brought up a lot of questions for him. He had some thinking that he needed to do and he knew that he needed to talk to Lindsay – badly. However, he was willing to put all that on hold for a few more hours because right now, the thing Danny needed to do the most was spend some time with his wife and daughter.<p>

Turning the key and opening the door, he announced his presence as he secured his gun in the front closet safe. Just as he was closing the closet door, he heard the unmistakable sound of little feet thudding across the living room.

"Daddy! You home!" Lucy squealed as she launched herself into Danny's open arms, hugging him fiercely and sloppily kissing his cheek. Pulling back again, she noticed his clothes and her head tilted to the side in confusion. "Where is you uni-form, Daddy?"

"I had a special meeting today, so I had to wear a suit."

Not really understanding what he meant, or maybe just not being that interested in his explanation, Lucy merely shrugged her shoulders. "OK. You look pwetty Daddy."

He'd tried to tell Lucy many times that she couldn't call a boy 'pretty,' but it still had yet to stick in her mind. Today, however, he didn't give a rat's ass that she used a girly word to describe him. "Thank you baby," he answered as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Where's Mommy?"

"I'm right here Danny."

Following the sound of her voice, he found his wife standing in the kitchen doorway, watching the father-daughter exchange with a small smile on her face. Danny returned the smile, but before he could say anything to Lindsay, Lucy interjected.

"Do you hafta go be a policeman now Daddy?"

Drawing his attention back to the little girl in his arms, he saw the hope in her eyes that he'd be staying and it broke his heart knowing that his job had made her like that, having to hope each day that she'd get to see him before she went to preschool or before she went to bed. Glancing up at Lindsay, he saw her smile turn sad, and all of it made him question once again why he had taken the promotion and whether it was worth keeping.

Pushing those thoughts away for the time being, he finally answered Lucy. "No more work for Daddy today. I'm spending the evening with my two favourite girls."

The way Lucy's eyes lit up was absolutely priceless. "Really?"

Danny just nodded his head in response. He was forced to tighten his grip on Lucy as she started to bounce in his arms, twisting to face Lindsay. "Mommy! Daddy doesn't hafta go be a policeman! He's staying with you and me!"

Though she'd heard her husband's response, Lindsay pretended to be surprised. "That's great baby! Dinner's almost ready, so go wash your hands, OK?"

"OK." Climbing down from Danny's arms, Lucy skipped her way down the hall, singing a made-up song about Danny staying for the evening rather than going back to work.

Finally alone with his wife, Danny closed the distance between them in 4 long strides and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "It's over Linds."

She let out a sigh of relief and hugged him back just as fiercely. They remained that way for several moments, letting that knowledge really sink into both of their minds before Lindsay pulled back, a question clearly on the tip of her tongue. Before she could voice it, he placed a finger on her lips. "We'll talk later, I promise, but I want…I need the next few hours to be just about the three of us. Please?"

Lindsay quickly nodded her head and Danny replaced his finger with his lips, conveying his gratitude. Pulling away once more, Lindsay ran her eyes down the length of his body and then back up again to his face. "I completely agree with Lucy, you look very 'pwetty' today."

Danny tried to glare at her, but the growing smile on his face betrayed his stern look. "I'm gonna pretend you said 'handsome' and take the compliment. Thank you."

Lindsay let out a brief chuckle as she glanced up at her husband. "You're welcome. Now, go change and wrangle up Lucy while I get everything ready for us, OK?"

"Sure, I'll be back before you know it." Kissing her one last time, Danny turned and headed off to their bedroom, unsurprised to feel Lindsay's gaze on his retreating form. Glancing back over his shoulder at her, he saw her blush as she got caught staring at his ass. He smiled and shook his head at her before disappearing out of her sight, glad that some things hadn't changed at all.

* * *

><p>Danny didn't say much during dinner, letting Lucy talk a mile a minute as she tried to catch him up on the highlights of her past few days. With the IAB looming over his head, Danny hadn't been able to see Lucy for more than a few hours total recently, and even then he was often very distracted and distant, so he didn't mind the information overload one bit. When they finished eating, he'd tried to clear away the table and do the dishes, his standard tasks when Lindsay cooked, but she shooed him away quickly, giving him a one-time pass to go spend time with Lucy. Not needing to be told twice, he scooped Lucy out of her booster seat and gave her the choice of what they should do. Hardly surprising, she wanted to play with her princess dolls, so for the next two hours, Danny, Lucy and Lindsay, once the kitchen was all cleaned up, had tea parties and gave the dolls makeovers.<p>

At Lucy's bedtime, the parents tag-teamed, Lindsay giving the little girl her bath so that Danny could read her a bedtime story. After her third story, Danny put his foot down and insisted that she go to sleep. Lucy's protests, while valiant, were hardly effective so long as her eyes continued to slide shut every 30 seconds, and she finally gave in and closed her eyes for good. With one last kiss on her forehead, Danny snuck out of the room to find Lindsay, noticing that she had just started to fold the laundry he knew she had done the night he'd gone out with his rookies. Silently, he joined her in the task.

He was working up the courage to start the conversation when Lindsay beat him to it. "What happened Dan?"

Focusing on the motion of his hands in folding to keep his thoughts from spinning around in his head, he answered. "I went in ready to hand over my gun and badge, and then Mac showed up. He was ready to sing my praises to Adler.

"When I spoke to Mac earlier, he said he was going to talk to Adler again and see if maybe that would get IAB to ease up on you. Did it work?"

"Mac never got a chance. I looked up and there was Cooper coming out of Adler's office. Adler came in and told me that she'd retracted her statement so I was clear to go back to full duty. I'm free and clear, but Cooper, Cates and Foley – all three of them are done, careers over before they even start."

Lindsay gave her husband a supportive smile, knowing that he was taking the firing of his rookies personally, regardless of their actions. "I feel bad for them, I do, but you can't blame yourself Danny. They lied and tried to throw you under the bus to save their own butts. They didn't bother to return the loyalty and trust I know you gave to them, so you shouldn't lose any sleep over it."

"A part of me knows that you're right," he let out a heavy sigh before continuing, "but I can't help but think about who they could've been as cops, especially Cooper. She had the best potential outta all of them, but she threw it all away when she lied. I just don't get it."

"Neither do I, honey, but at the end of the day, she changed her mind and told the truth. That tells me that the faith you had in her wasn't entirely misplaced. She just fell victim to the bad influence of those other two. I'm sure that she'll be OK, in time." When she finished speaking, Lindsay avoided Danny's eyes, berating herself for saying too much. She knew how Danny would react if he found out what she had done, but she hoped that he was too distracted by everything else to read between the lines.

Danny stayed quiet after she finished talking, staring at her as her words filled his mind. She didn't seem to notice the silence that had befallen them or the fact that Danny was staring at her, she just kept folding the laundry in front of her. Suddenly, it all clicked together in his mind. With wide eyes, he turned his body to face her fully.

"What did you do?"

"What do you mean?" She knew that it was a pathetic last ditch effort to throw him off, but she couldn't stop herself.

The quick response, coupled with her inability to meet his eye, told him he was on the right track. "Don't play dumb with me Lindsay. You know exactly what I'm talking about." He waited for her to finally look at him, and when she did, he was taken aback by the fierce look he saw in her eyes.

"I tracked Cooper down and asked her why she lied to IAB. She tried to say that you told her to lie, in so many words, but when I pushed her, she admitted that it had never been her idea, that she'd only wanted to tell the truth. She ran off before I could say anything else, but I knew that she meant Cates and Foley. I know you, and I know that you would never do something so stupid."

He looked at her in disbelief. "Linds…"

"No," she cut him off abruptly, a defiant edge to her voice. "I don't care whether you're mad at me for what I did because I won't apologize. It's the same thing you would've done for me. Hell, it's the same thing you would've done for anyone at the lab, and probably for your rookies too before this all happened. Maybe it could've gotten me into trouble with IAB for interfering but I was willing to take that chance. You're my husband and I couldn't stand idly by while you were being railroaded. I've been stuck on the outside looking in this whole time, unable to work the case because of some damn 'conflict of interest' crap, and I just couldn't take it anymore. I went to see Cooper not as a cop, but as a wife to try and convince her to do the right thing."

She stared at him after she finished speaking, tears brimming in her eyes as she dared him to try and tell her that what she did was wrong. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before responding, wanting to tread lightly here given her highly emotional state.

"I'm not mad Lindsay," he started by saying, wanting to clear that up first and foremost. "I am upset, though, about the risk you took by talking to her. It would not have helped if we were both getting reprimanded by IAB." He could see her preparing a comeback, so he held up his hand to silence her. "But most of all, I am feeling loved. This entire time, you've been the only one who hasn't doubted me for a single second. You've been throwing your weight around with IAB and while it bothered me at first, I get it now. You were trying to protect me and frankly it's still not something that I'm used to having people do for me. I want to apologize for how I reacted when you first came to the bar and I want to thank you for having my back."

Lindsay's face softened and she felt herself begin to smile. "We're a team Danny, through thick and thin. I'll always stand beside you, 100 percent, no questions asked. Honestly, if I couldn't then there would be little reason for me to stay married to you. I have no reason to doubt you and I know you'd do the same for me in a heartbeat."

"And I would." Deciding that it was time to get to what he most wanted to discuss with her, Danny threw the pants he'd been folding back in the basket and moved towards Lindsay, taking the shirt from her hands and leading her to the couch. Sitting them down, he took a steadying breath before going forward.

"Lindsay, I don't think I want to be a sergeant. After this whole experience, my heart's not really in it anymore. Don't get me wrong, I like helping to shape new cops and getting them to avoid some of the mistakes I made, but I've been doing this job too long to not be working with people I can trust, people I consider family. I treated those rookies like family and look where it got me. I don't even work at the lab anymore and everybody there is still trying to look out for me. And Mac, he was ready to tell IAB that he would follow me anywhere if I was his sergeant. The guy knows me the best outta anyone I've worked with, knows all the stupid shit I've done over the years, and he's still willing to put his reputation on the line for me. Then there's you and everything you did.

"That's what I've been missing most since I left the lab, that support system. I couldn't get it from the rookies because I was their boss and all the other sergeants don't want to have anything to do with me because I came from the crime lab – I'm not one of them, I'm just an egghead who's pretending."

"Danny, I know it's been a difficult few days, but you've been managing fine before this happened. I just don't want you to make a rash decision here."

"I've been thinking about it for a while now Linds. I hadn't been anywhere close to a decision before, but the past few days have kinda been the last few nails in the coffin. The hours away from you and Lucy are killing me. I've wondered many times what's it all for, a little extra money and career advancement down the line? I'm not saying that I wouldn't consider being a sergeant again in the future, but right now is not the time for me. I don't wanna miss anymore of Lucy's life because I can't get that time back. And I'm tired of seeing you only in passing. Sometimes I think it would be easier if we didn't see each other at all, because the teases are torturing me. I've only be able to have dinner with you guys, what, twice this month? I don't want to look back on my life in 20 or 30 years and regret taking that promotion because of what it ended up costing me."

"Danny, you don't have to worry so much about me and Lucy. We're fine. You spend as much time with Lucy as you can, and you make it count. And I certainly don't love you any less because I don't get to spend a lot of time with you. I can't lie, it's not always easy, but I get by. It's not going to be like this forever Dan." She concluded her statement by placing her head on his shoulder.

"I can't stop worrying Linds, even if I wanted to. Lucy shouldn't have to hope that she gets to spend time with me each day, and you deserve more than having to settle for 'getting by.' You both do." He looked down at her, a small smile on his face. "You and I both know that I miss working at the lab, not just because of you and everyone else there, but because I miss the work itself. Hell, I even miss the reports and all the other paperwork, because it's still less than all the crap I gotta fill out and read over as a sergeant. We survived before on our two salaries, so I know that we'll be alright financially. And being a detective ain't all that bad – I mean, I was one for close to ten years, and I did marry one."

Lindsay gave him a sideways glance in warning before taking his hand and squeezing it. "Danny, I'll support you on whatever you decide. This is your choice to make, I won't tell you what to do."

"But I want your opinion too. Whether I stay a sergeant or come back to the crime lab – that affects you too."

"It does, but at the end of the day, you need to work in an environment where _you_ feel safe, not wherever I think you should be. If that's at the lab, I'm sure everyone will be glad to have you back. If that's being a sergeant, we'll just keep doing what we've been doing. It's all going to work out in the end, Danny, so take your time and really think about it. I'm here if you need to talk, but you have to make up your mind for yourself."

Not completely satisfied with her answer but knowing that she wanted him to come to his own conclusions about his next move, Danny leaned over to kiss Lindsay's temple. "Thanks babe."

"You're welcome." Lindsay smiled up at him and burrowed further into his side.

Wrapping an arm tightly around her shoulders, Danny lapsed into silence, a myriad of thoughts swirling around in his head. After calming the thoughts down, he glanced over at the laundry baskets. "Well, I guess we should get back to folding, this stuff ain't gonna fold itself."

Lindsay nodded and stood up as Danny made his way back over to the pants he'd been folding. They worked together in silence, stealing occasional glances at each other, but Danny and Lindsay were both thinking about the same thing: no matter what the future held, they'd be OK. They had each other's backs, and everything else was of secondary importance.

* * *

><p><strong>So maybe that wasn't the direction you were expecting me to take this in (honestly, I surprised myself a bit on this one), but I think it fits. Danny couldn't rush into his decision to go back to the crime lab, and I really don't think Lindsay would've pushed him into returning. Ultimately, it was Danny's choice to make, and Lindsay knew and respected that.<strong>

**Whether you liked it or hated it, I appreciate that some of you made it all the way to the end of these stories, so thank you very much for taking the time out to read these!**

**Until we meet again,**

**unlikelyRLshipper :)**


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